When Jessica Cohen was pregnant with her first child, her blood pressure started to rise.

She knew that could be a sign of pre-eclampsia, a serious condition that obstetricians are

always on the watch for.

But her doctor suggested she come in for some extra blood pressure checks during her pregnancy.

That was it.

When she was pregnant with her second child, the same thing happened again.

This time, her OB had a very different response.

In addition to bringing me in multiple times for blood pressure checks, multiple times

a week, they were doing detailed ultrasounds, doing what are called antinatal fetal surveillance

checks and checking the health of the placenta and keeping very careful track of how the pregnancy

was going.

The response was so different the second time around because of one simple fact.

Jessica was now over age 35.

That meant she was labeled as AMA, Advanced Maternal Age.

In other words, she was high risk, and it made a huge difference, not only during her pregnancy,

but also her delivery.

I had many machines that beeped.

I was definitely connected to many wires.

I probably had a pretty medicalized birth, but it all ended okay.

Jessica isn't complaining.

She was happy to have the extra precautions, and she welcomed a healthy baby boy into

the world.

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